For the past few months my computer has been suffering from some serious speed issues that I tracked to the 1TB drive that came in my Mid-2011 iMac. And since I am not one for patience and didn't want to wait for the new iMac I went out and purchased a few items.

I bought a 256GB Samsung 830 and a LaCie 2Big Thunderbolt Enclosure 4TB (2x2TB). I have my system files, application, Aperture library, etc on the SSD and then my videos, music, and Win7 Virtual Machine on the 2Big drives in RAID-0.

The performance of the SSD is awesome but that's pretty well known around the forums. What really surprised me was the performance of the Thunderbolt+RAID-0 combo. I am reading @ ~350MB/s and writing at ~375MB/s which seems pretty good to me. My old drive (which I think was damaged) was reading/writing around 100MB/s.

Just wanted to share with some other iMac fans. This thing has a whole new life.

I am going to be following the iFixit guide on this very soon when I gather all the bits. I shall also replace the stock 500gb HDD for a 1TB, and hopefully quieter!!, HDD to compliment the SSD.

Yes, I removed the original hard drive. It was shot anyhow. The ifixit guide was what I used and with the proper tools it was easy. The hardest part was getting the screws back in due to very limited access. I suggest a small angled set of tweezers.

Yes, I removed the original hard drive. It was shot anyhow. The ifixit guide was what I used and with the proper tools it was easy. The hardest part was getting the screws back in due to very limited access. I suggest a small angled set of tweezers.

Thanks for the advice. I feel it doesn't look to bad providing I take my time and organise the screws correctly. My biggest worry is getting marks or dust on the screen. I will probably buy a can of compressed air and use that get rid of any dust.

__________________"You’ve got to push yourself harder. You’ve got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You’ve got to take the tools you have and probe deeper"

Thanks for the advice. I feel it doesn't look to bad providing I take my time and organise the screws correctly. My biggest worry is getting marks or dust on the screen. I will probably buy a can of compressed air and use that get rid of any dust.